“Our students haven’t been able to graduate on time because they couldn’t get the classes,” Sac State President Robert Nelsen said. “We didn’t have enough labs, so that we could offer the classes.”

Nelsen said the science facility’s renovation will be the first of its kind in 30 years. It will cost the campus $91 million, but the state will cover $71 million of the bill. Sac State plans to pay for the rest through naming opportunities.

In addition to the science complex, other naming opportunities include:

Planetarium at $5 million

Rooftop observatory at $2.5 million

Living laboratory plaza at $2 million

Green terrace at $1 million

Two lecture halls at $500,000 each

“This is huge. Our older facilities -- there’s not really windows; we’re using old chairs and lab benches,” Sac State junior Elizabeth Gabler said. “Everyone is just excited to see a new building -- a fresh look. We are becoming bigger and better.”

The new renovations come at a time when the Sacramento region is growing, yet struggling to offer enough job opportunities to keep its college graduates.

“We are trying to bring in companies all of the time. One of the first things they ask is ‘how many graduates do you have in STEM -- in science, technology, engineering and math?'” Nelsen said. “More than anything it will be the companies that we will be able to attract because of what happens in that lab.”

The new science complex is one piece of a larger puzzle -- how to attract STEM companies and provide its college graduates jobs.

“This is a market signal, if you will, that Sacramento is going to up its game when it comes to STEM education,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “More people will stay here if there is more job opportunity, and if we address, which we will, the issues of affordable housing in the community.”

The Ernest T. Tschannen Science Complex is scheduled to open spring 2019.